WP GM Mode › How scoring works
How scoring works
Each week your club plays one opponent. The final score comes from what the players you dressed did in real games that week. Nothing is simulated and nothing is left to chance: the same real week always gives the same score.
The short version
3 for a goal, 2 for an assist, 0.3 for a shot on goal. Your top line counts in full and lower lines count for less. Every player's week is scaled to three games, so a busy schedule is not an edge.
The fewer goals your starter really allows per shot, the fewer goals the other club gets. Each real shutout takes 1 goal off them. Each real win adds 3% to your scoring.
Real power-play goals by your power-play units earn a bonus. Real blocked shots and takeaways by your penalty killers trim the other club's goals.
A win is 2 points in the standings and an overtime loss is 1. In rivalry weeks every game counts double.
Step by step
- Lineups lock Monday at noon Eastern. The lineup you have at that moment is the one that plays the whole week: your lines, your pairs, your goalies and your special-teams units. Anything you change after the lock counts from the following week. That goes for trades, call-ups and waiver claims too: a player you add on Wednesday plays for you from next Monday, and a player you trade away on Wednesday still counts for you this week. Nobody can wait for the real games and then move the hot hand to the first line.
- Your skaters earn points. Every dressed forward and defenceman earns 3 points for each real goal, 2 for each real assist and 0.3 for each real shot on goal that week. A player who did not play earns nothing.
- Every player's week is scaled to three games. Real clubs play two, three or four games in a week, and that should not pick the winner. So each player's points are scaled to a 3-game week by the number of games his real club played: four games count three-quarters, three count as they are, and two count one and a half times. It goes by his club's games, not his own, so a player who misses a game still loses that game. The same scaling applies to the power-play bonus, the penalty-kill work and the goalie's win bonus. It stops at 1.5 times, so a club that played once in a short week is not counted three times over.
- The line he plays on sets how much counts. Use the table below. The same goal is worth more from your first line than from your fourth.
- Chemistry adds 10 percent. A forward line has chemistry when it holds a finisher (Scoring 86 or better) and a different player who sets him up (Playmaking 86 or better). A defence pair has it when a puck mover (Playmaking 84 or Play-driving 86) plays beside a different player who defends (Defence 84). Everyone on that line or pair earns 10 percent more points. The lineup page shows which of your lines have it.
- Your power play adds a bonus. Each real power-play goal by a player on your first unit adds 2.0 points, and on your second unit 1.25.
- Your total is compared with the league. A club with exactly the league's average total that week is on pace for about 3 goals. More points means more goals, and the gap grows quickly at both ends. See the second table.
- The other club's goalie pushes your goals down or up. His real goals allowed per shot that week is compared with the league's. See the third table. A few league-average shots are mixed in first, so one bad period on a light week does not decide a game.
- Wins and shutouts. Each real win by your starter adds 3 percent to your club's goals. Each real shutout by your starter takes 1 goal off the other club. A shutout means he played the whole game, won it, and allowed nothing.
- Your penalty kill trims their goals. Real blocked shots and takeaways by your two penalty-kill units are compared with the league. A busy penalty kill takes up to 4 percent off the other club's goals, and a quiet one adds up to 4 percent. The second unit counts for 60 percent as much as the first.
- Home ice. The home club's goals are raised by 3 percent.
- The final score. Each club's goals are rounded to a whole number, and a club can be held to zero. Past 6 goals, only 35 percent of the rest counts, and no club scores more than 10, so a rout stays a hockey score. If the two are level, the game goes to overtime and the club that was ahead before rounding wins by one.
How much each line counts
| Forwards | Counts | Defence | Counts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Line 1 | 100% | Pair 1 | 100% |
| Line 2 | 85% | Pair 2 | 85% |
| Line 3 | 70% | Pair 3 | 70% |
| Line 4 | 55% |
From your points to your goals
| Your club's points, against the league average that week | Goals, before the goalie and the rest |
|---|---|
| 50% (half the average) | 1.1 |
| 75% | 2.0 |
| 100% (an average week) | 3.1 |
| 125% | 4.4 |
| 150% | 5.8 |
| 200% (twice the average) | 7.0 |
A club's share is kept between 35 and 229 percent of the league average.
What a goalie does to the other club
| Goals your starter allowed per shot, against the league rate that week | The other club's goals become |
|---|---|
| 50% (half as many as the league) | 35% of what they earned |
| 75% | 65% of what they earned |
| 100% (the league rate) | 100% of what they earned |
| 125% | 140% of what they earned |
| 150% | 184% of what they earned |
Your starter is used if he played at all that week. Your backup is used only if the starter did not play. Then each shutout takes a goal off.
What it takes to win
- Dress players who are playing. An injured or scratched player earns nothing. Set your lineup before the lock, Monday at noon Eastern.
- Build lines that fit. Put a scorer with a playmaker, and a puck mover with a defender. Three shooters on one line earn nothing extra.
- Load your first line and first pair. They count in full, and the fourth line counts for 55 percent.
- Get a starter who plays a lot and stops a lot. A hot goalie is the single biggest swing in a game, and his wins and shutouts count on top.
- Put real power-play scorers on your first unit. The bonus is paid only for goals by the players you named to a unit.
- Name penalty killers who block shots. It is a small edge, and close games turn on small edges.
- Shots count. A player who shoots a lot earns points every game, even on a night he does not score.
If you have played a hockey pool
A pool adds up points all season and the highest total wins. Here the points are the same kind, goals, assists, shots, goalie wins and shutouts, but each week they are turned into one game against one opponent, with a real hockey score. A great week against a hot goalie can still lose, and a quiet week can steal a 2-1 win.
The playoffs
A playoff round is one real week and every series is a best-of-five. Games one to four use each player's first, second, third and fourth real game of that week, and a deciding fifth game uses the whole week. Every game is scored as above, with one difference: the 3 percent for a goalie's win is not used in a single playoff game. Shutouts still count.
This scoring took effect on November 14, 2026. It widened the range of final scores to match the real league, made goalie wins and shutouts count, made line chemistry count, added the Monday lineup lock, and scaled every player's week to three games. Week 1 of the 2026-27 season was scored the earlier way and was not changed.